"It's completely not essential,” said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense.

The EAS program began in 1978 to guarantee that small communities could maintain commercial flights after airline deregulation.

The program continued into 2015 with $261 million in subsidized flights on 113 different routes in 48 states.

Several of the routes are in western Pennsylvania, where you can fly from Pittsburgh to Altoona, Bradford, Dubois, Lancaster or Franklin.

You can even fly from Pittsburgh to Jamestown, New York.

Berman flew from Pittsburgh to Franklin, which is just 93 miles from the Steel City.

Passengers are given earplugs and their baggage is weighed, including carry-ons.

Depending on how many passengers are there, some might be instructed to sit in certain areas of the eight-seat Piper Chieftain plane.

There is no air conditioning on the flight, but the trip to Franklin takes only 25 minutes.

The return flight from Venango County (Franklin) to Pittsburgh only had only three passengers on board, including two from WTAE.

The flights run whether they’re full or empty.

Three go from Franklin to Pittsburgh, with three back, every weekday, with some flights on weekends too.

There was at least one day when all flights were canceled, but we were told that was because the pilot called in sick.

The Pittsburgh/Franklin route receives a $1.4 million subsidy funded by the Department of Transportation, which spends a total of $13 million on the Pennsylvania routes.

Between driving to the airport, finding the gate and the 25 minute flight, it took about two hours to get to Franklin from Pittsburgh.

When we drove the previous week, the trip took roughly an hour and a half.

"It was very fast, very convenient for me,” said passenger Bret Mannsur, who flew on one of the flights from Pittsburgh to Franklin on July 20.

Venango County resident Sandy Hanna said she was the only passenger on board when she flew from Franklin to Pittsburgh in early July. She flew straight to Florida from Pittsburgh.

She was on the same Pittsburgh-to-Franklin flight as Mannsur, making her way back to Franklin after her time in the Sunshine State.

"I love it. The price is lower than it's ever been,” Hanna said.

Perhaps that’s because the government subsidy is higher than it's ever been.

The subsidy has doubled since 2011.

That’s how long Republican Rep. Tom McClintock has been trying to ground the EAS program.

“It's the most non-essential part of the entire federal government. We literally hand wads of cash to subsidize people flying to regional airports when most of those are within an hour's drive,” McClintock said.

He aimed to largely defund the EAS program with an amendment that he put forward last month.

McClintock introduced an amendment to H.R. 2577, the FY16 Transportation, Housing & Urban Development Appropriations Act, to eliminate funding for the Essential Air Service program. The amendment was defeated by a vote of 255-166.

Many lawmakers, like McClintock, want to see the Essential Air Service shuttered.

The problem is that more members of congress, including several from western Pennsylvania, voted to keep EAS aloft.

Only three of Pennsylvania’s 18 members of congress voted to eliminate EAS funding.

In western Pennsylvania, Rep. Mike Kelly was the only one who voted to kill EAS.

"When you really look at this program and the merits, it's hard for anybody to argue that this really makes sense to be spending hundreds of millions of dollars every year flying these planes when in many cases they have little or no passengers,” Ellis said.

How empty are the flights?

Government records show that last year, none of the Pennsylvania flights averaged more than 30 percent ridership.

The Franklin route averaged just over 20 percent occupancy, which amounts to 1.6 passengers per flight.

Those passengers each pay $29 for a ticket, with taxpayers picking up the rest of the $788 to subsidize the entire flight.

"We need it,” Hanna said after stepping off her plane back to Franklin.

She said it’s a truly convenient option that she uses about twice a year.

Franklin’s Mayor also the EAS subsidy a necessity.

He wrote a letter to the DOT chairman recently, requesting that EAS remain.

"We think that it adds to our ability to attract new businesses and maintain the businesses we have,” Mayor Douglas Baker said.

He said Franklin businesses such as Honeywell, Joy Global and Liberty have likely used flights out of Franklin’s airport.

“Having it available continues to be a real asset for us,” said Susan Williams, executive director of the Venango Area Chamber of Commerce.

Neither Williams nor Baker could provide estimates of how many businesses chose to locate in Venango County because of the airport or how many jobs have been created as a result of having an airport.

“We recognize that having a local airport is important to a rural community, and we believe that losing that would create just one more barrier to business,” Williams said.

Either way, with current ridership numbers, it’s an asset that’s fueled by the dollars of the many, to propel the few.

McClintock has vowed to fight EAS once again when it’s time for the next appropriations bill.

Ellis said EAS is justified only in Alaska, which is rural enough to require regional air travel.

But Ft. Lauderdale-based Sun Air Express defended its subsidies.

“EAS is analogous to the federal highway system. A stretch of Interstate 80 in western Nebraska (with few travelers) is subsidized by (the hundreds of thousands of daily) users of I-80 in Chicago,” said Mark Cestari, Sun Air Express vice president of marketing.

Cestari said EAS provides subsidies to 165 communities which are more than 70 miles from the nearest connecting airport.

“In addition to the historical and federal access arguments there is also an important case to be that maintaining service to small communities is essential to economic development and retaining the businesses that are already there,” Cestari said.

Murphy’s office emailed a statement to WTAE explaining his vote against McClintock’s amendment.

“Keep in mind, commercial airlines get billions in subsidies yet refuse to serve rural communities because they don’t make a profit. The EAS program is also funded by fees on foreign air carriers; but make no mistake, it needs a major overhaul and Congress has already begun that process,” Murphy said.

Rothfus also explained his decision to support EAS.

"Some smaller communities across the nation, including some here in western Pennsylvania, would not have access to the national and global economies without this program. Rather than immediately ending funding for a program such as Essential Air Service, I think it is best to seek ways to lower the costs of air service in a manner that would allow smaller airports to become more independent of the program,” Rothfus said.

Doyle was absent from Congress on the day of the vote on EAS because of a family medical issue but said he would have voted to keep EAS funding where it is now.

“Had I been present, I would have voted against the amendment to defund the Essential Air Service program. The Essential Air Service program provides an important transportation option to residents of isolated communities in western Pennsylvania and it brings more flights and passengers into Pittsburgh, which boosts our local economy,” Doyle said.

The Venango County Regional Airport is in Thompson’s district.

“Congress has an obligation to provide a level playing field for rural Americans when it comes being connected to the national air transportation system and the economic benefits this provides," Thompson said.

"I don’t hear anyone complaining that major metropolitan airports, which receive upwards of $3.5 billion annually, are a waste of tax dollars. As rural Americans, we should not have to continually fight for the crumbs of our urban and suburban counterparts. Until we address the true drivers of debt - unsustainable mandatory spending that consumes over 60% of the annual budget - everything else will be a drop in the bucket and should not be disproportionately balanced on the backs of hard working rural taxpayers."

Shuster’s press secretary said the congressman has already put reforms into place.

“In the last FAA reauthorization, Chairman Shuster helped advance common-sense EAS reforms to cap passenger subsidies and to ensure that airports in the program are providing service to a sufficient number of people. The next FAA reauthorization, which Chairman Shuster continues to work on, will continue to keep our small communities in Pennsylvania and across the country connected to major airports like Pittsburgh International, help modernize our nation’s antiquated air traffic control system, and ensure that passengers receive the safest, most reliable air service in the world,” Casey Contres said.